User Reviews

For years I'd wondered about this film and if I'd ever have a chance to see it. Fortunately, someone posted a copy online. My fear that it might be terrible, to explain why it never turns up on cable channels or streaming platforms, was totally unfounded. It's an excellent picture, competently made.

What we have is a mostly British story (financed by a Hollywood studio) that features an American star. This would be Robert Montgomery's last major acting role, and he also serves as the director. He concentrated on television production and public speaking after the film was completed.

Mr. Montgomery plays a legal fish out of water, a New York-based defense attorney who is summoned to England when an old war buddy faces a murder charge. The buddy (Michael Ripper) contends that he fired two fatal shots in self-defense. Furthermore, there was a witness hiding in the other room. Trouble is that the individual fled out a window into the night without being seen.

The British court doesn't really believe his story, since all police inquiry on the matter failed to produce such an eyewitness. Because Montgomery cannot practice law outside his own country, he helps the defendant's team strategize. Then he turns detective to locate the mystery person. Most of this is handled rather adeptly. The situation emphasizes the main differences between American and British cultures as well as their inherent similarities.

While attempting to track down the person who can exonerate his pal, Montgomery spends time in the picturesque countryside where he becomes acquainted with a well-to-do family. This includes an authority on British law (Leslie Banks), his sister-in-law (Patricia Wayne), and his teenaged daughter (Ann Stephens).

The sister-in-law is a war widow living at the manor who assists in raising the younger girl. She and Montgomery hit it off, and there's a lovely scene during a church service where she realizes she's falling for him. Meanwhile, Montgomery continues to turn up at court with the wife of the accused (Jenny Laird), but he isn't any closer to clearing his friend.

The story shifts gears when it starts to look like Miss Wayne's character was having an affair with the murder victim. Was she the witness who ran off that fateful night? Montgomery tries to ferret the "truth" out of her, but she is innocent. There's a neat twist which I didn't see coming, but should have, where we learn the teen girl had an unhealthy crush on the victim. She used to sneak into the killed man's quarters to be close to him. She's the mystery person.

The moment where the girl appears in court to confess everything comes at considerable embarrassment to her and her upstanding family. As a result of the testimony, Montgomery's pal is released. Before Montgomery heads back to America he is able to tell Miss Wayne he has romantic feelings for her.

YOUR WITNESS evokes memories of battle, a war that united the allied forces against a common enemy. The script was co-written by Hugo Butler who was summoned to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Mr. Butler fled the U. S. and worked abroad. He refused to be a friendly witness that would aid Senator Joseph McCarthy's smear campaign, choosing instead to remain loyal to his old comrades.